Slay the Hierarchy

Spring Ball Pt. II

Daisy.

Small, warm, loving friend.

If the Slayer had to describe what he thought of the word 'daisy', it wouldn't be a common flower, but a long-lost companion. A companion he couldn't believe he found again, and in such unlikely circumstances.

Sure, he had met the noble lady once before. Though it was in such a dire and chaotic situation that he barely recognised the striking semblance she and the old bunny shared. For they had the same grey-brown hair, the same dark, doe eyes, and were perhaps even the same petite size, minus the fact that she was surprisingly tall.

Not as tall as the Doom Slayer who; without the Praetor Suit; measured 1.8 metres in his late teens, but close enough, to his amazement.

The two were alone in the palace garden, strolling along a gravel path lit dimly by ornate lamps. Awkward. This was awkward. Why did Vega even leave? What possessed him to suggest they 'speak privately'? The Slayer fought not to shake his head in frustration.

Yet he wasn't the only one troubled by the current circumstances. Daisy was too, feeling just as awkward and out of place despite having finally found what she was looking for. She had been so intent on finding the young nobleman, but now what?

It didn't help that he was ridiculously huge. Well, not as huge as some knights she'd seen, but still bigger and broader than most men his age. Not that that assuaged her. She saw him squash a creature her size like a bug, like it was nothing. So what other horrors was a man his size capable of?

Daisy quickly realised he was a lot more dangerous than she thought. So she'd better get this over with fast.

'What we saw that day...,' she started, cutting through the thick silence. 'That... creature. You know what it is, don't you?'

He stopped walking and Daisy knew she hit the nail on the head. Holding his stony look, she pressed, 'How? Where did it come from? Are there more of them?'

He shouldn't have thought it, but despite her questions, despite being totally unrelated... the Slayer could almost imagine a pair of floppy ears on her head. He could almost hear her feet thumping on the ground with excitement. Damn his memories. Especially in a moment like this.

He looked away from her swiftly and continued walking; a stride Daisy almost had to run to catch up to. Almost.

'Good sir,' she breathed out in frustration, grasping her dress as she took long strides to match his pace. 'I do not wish to order answers of you by right. You saved my life, so I don't believe that is fair.'

He slowed down at the words, and when Daisy caught up to him, realised they had entered something like a flower garden. Turning to look at him again, she said, hoping it didn't sound like a plead, 'Just one answer. One answer will do.'

The Doom Slayer could scarcely bring himself to look her in the eyes again. They reminded him of too much. Too much of Earth. Too much of the invasion.

Too much of one of his first significant losses.

'... Demons.'

Came his answer when Daisy thought it never would. But it wasn't an answer she prepared for. If anything, it only threw her into disarray.

'Demons? Did you just say demons? As in the enemies of all things holy?'

He went silent; a silence Daisy scoffed at. But when he didn't share her mirth, it dawned on her that this was no joke. When she considered it seriously, the monster's anatomy certainly fit the bill. Its bony body, wretched proportions, and the hideous look of it...

The princess didn't realise she was shaking until she felt a pat on her shoulder. It was gentle; almost like a discreet call for attention. And when she looked up, Daisy met the Blazkowicz young master's eyes, staring into the olive green shade of them.

It wasn't her finest moment, and Daisy grasped for things to say to dispel the fear that suddenly gripped her when he patted her shoulder again. This time, compelling something of her.

Puzzled, she searched his face for answers to no avail. That was when he reached for her hand and something in her let him. Perhaps it was how careful he was not to startle her; not to hurt her; as he grasped it in his larger palm, turning it over to place something in her relaxed fist. He pulled away and Daisy stared at the flower in it; an orange gerbera.

A type of daisy.

She ought to have been offended. All matters pertaining to her name incited a similar reaction. But not this one. If anything, it brought a smile to her face, because it was the colour of passion and enthusiasm. A profound message that unexpectedly soothed her soul.

He pulled away and Daisy stared at the blossom with an ounce of regret, feeling foolish for ever thinking he was a brute. But could anyone blame her? Most men she met were always on the lookout for some benefit or the other. Daisy may not have entertained them, but the older she grew, the more frowned upon refusing them became, it seemed.

But not him. Something about him was clearly different. She felt it ever since they first met.

'Assuming what we saw was a demon, what does that make you...?' she murmured, inspecting the flower by the stem before looking over it and at the young nobleman's back. 'If neither a nobleman nor a knight could slay one of those things... perhaps a hero could?'

Despite how intimidating and sombre the young man looked, there was a surprisingly pensive air about him as he stared at the fluttering array of flowers surrounding them. A moment of silence later and just when Daisy doubted he would answer, he spoke.

'I'm no hero,' came his low, deep reply. 'Just a man.'

Daisy begged to differ. Just a man wouldn't be capable of single-handedly slaying a demon of all creatures, for heaven's sake!

... But it was an answer she quickly realised she didn't mind. One she couldn't bring herself to scoff at, judge, or ridicule, because a trickster wouldn't lie so somberly. Something deep down told her to believe him.

And that something was also responsible for her human-turned-hummingbird heart. Daisy could have pinched herself for feeling the way she did, mortified by her own swaying emotions. It didn't help that every time she attempted a fist to gather herself, she hesitated; the bright flower in her hand stopping her.

So when he made to leave with a discreet nod in farewell, Daisy inadvertently panicked. She had so much more to ask him and yet so little.

Think, Daisy, think! She chided herself, about to follow in his footsteps when the floor under her shook. It was enough to throw her off.

The princess stopped to listen; the Count's son doing the same. The earth-trembling shudders came in rhythmic pulses, akin to a heartbeat... no. Footsteps, the longer Daisy listened. Footsteps of something big.

'What's happening...!?'

Daisy cried when those footfalls turned louder, feeling dangerously close to them. Her heart hammered for a very different reason as she turned in the direction of the approaching clamour, dreading what she might see.

She liked to think it was an earthquake. A big and terribly unusual one, but those hopes were quickly and unceremoniously dashed when she saw the evidence before her. A sight that took her breath away, and not in a good sense.

It was a dark, hulking figure of impossible size. The closer it approached, the larger it grew; a tall, grey, muscly creature with bulging arms and thighs. From its bleached skull tore open a mouth; Daisy staring at the grievous, human-like incisors in them as it grunted like a wild beast, breathing out clouds of hot air.

And then it roared. A long, horrific, beastly bellow that made the blood in her veins run cold and turned her limbs into concrete.

Beast. Monster. Demon.

It didn't matter. Whatever it was... it was intent on ramming straight through her.